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A studio visit with THE magazine September 2010
Recently THE magazine stopped by the studio to see what Steve has been creating and asked him to respond to a quote by John Updike.
Updike writes "What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit"
Steve, of course, responded straight from the heart and said, "While most artists would probably agree with this bland statement, its opposite can also be true. Some great art that is obsessively claustrophobic. There is little room for breathing in a Francis Bacon portrait, and many of the early Modernists’ works were received with horror, not sighs of content. Personally, I’m not looking to create an atmosphere in which Mr. Updike would be comfortable. I want a more complex, more challenging view that takes your breath away and forces you to face the other -the unknown- and therefore consider something new and fresh, even if dark. I’m trying to create a new sensibility about Southwest art that is modern, abstract, yet real, One that shows the Southwest as it is from my interior vision. I prefer art that not only surprises the viewer, but most importantly, surprises me."
Photographer Anne Stavely was there to capture the artist in his studio.
Updike writes "What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit"
Steve, of course, responded straight from the heart and said, "While most artists would probably agree with this bland statement, its opposite can also be true. Some great art that is obsessively claustrophobic. There is little room for breathing in a Francis Bacon portrait, and many of the early Modernists’ works were received with horror, not sighs of content. Personally, I’m not looking to create an atmosphere in which Mr. Updike would be comfortable. I want a more complex, more challenging view that takes your breath away and forces you to face the other -the unknown- and therefore consider something new and fresh, even if dark. I’m trying to create a new sensibility about Southwest art that is modern, abstract, yet real, One that shows the Southwest as it is from my interior vision. I prefer art that not only surprises the viewer, but most importantly, surprises me."
Photographer Anne Stavely was there to capture the artist in his studio.